A Tale of Two Rustbuckets
by Meshakhad
Summary: On the other side of the universe, two ships may have found the help they needed...
1. Contact

A/N: Set between "Pain" and "Subversion" from SGU, and during "The Passage" of BSG. I own nothing.

* * *

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA

"A ship?" Adama asked.

"Scopes confirm it," Dualla nodded. "Doesn't look like anything in our records."

"Where is it going?" Helo stared at the display.

"One moment!" Gaeta was drawing a few lines on his work grid. "OK, I think it's on a trajectory for the inner system, probably one of the planets there. One of them is covered in water ice."

"So it's not headed for us," Helo said.

"Do we have confirmation that it's a ship, and not just a rogue asteroid?" Adama needed to know that this wasn't some false alarm.

Gaeta passed him a photo from one of the telescopes. It wasn't very high-resolution, but Adama could make out the shape – like an axe blade. Obviously not natural.

The ship was of neither Colonial nor Cylon origin. It was something Adama had never encountered before, or even planned for.

First, he had to protect the fleet.

"Lt. Gaeta, go to Condition One."

"Aye, sir." Adama didn't look, but he soon heard the lieutenant's voice on the intercom. _"Action stations, action stations. Set Condition One throughout the ship."_

"Dee, get me a line to Captain Thrace with the CAP."

Dualla frowned slightly. She pressed a few buttons, then handed Adama the phone.

"_Yes, sir?"_ came Starbuck's voice.

"I want you to take your wing and cover the mining ships. Apollo and the rest of the Vipers are in the tubes, and will take over your position."

"_Cover the mining ships. Starbuck out."_

Adama put the phone down. He looked over at his XO.

"Sitrep?"

"Ship reports Condition One."

Good. They were ready for action. But now, Adama was at a loss.

This was not the first time Adama had considered the possibility of contact with an alien civilization. It had crossed his mind when they found a ruined city on a habitable planet. That planet had turned out to be Kobol. But this could be something different entirely.

He knew that the Fleet had plans for almost every possible contingency. Some were well-known, such as the one involving an all-out Cylon attack that took out the planet-based facilities. This plan had wisely called for overall command to transfer to the highest-ranked officer in the fleet, as warships were not such easy targets. However, it had not considered the possibility of the Cylons having a computer virus that could cripple any ship.

There were other plans, some more fanciful than others. One dealt with a rogue Battlestar. Another had a coup attempt backed by the mainstream media – in other words, waging a war against an enemy with near-total control over the flow of information. Another considered the return of the Lords of Kobol (recommended response: nuke them). There was even a plan that envisioned a revolt led by the Junior Pyramid League. And there was one in case you encountered a truly _alien_ intelligence.

After the debacle at Kobol, Adama had read that plan. He was already executing it, in fact. And now that he was prepared for an attack by hostile aliens, he went to stage two.

"Helo, get a Raptor over to the ship with Viper escort."

"Aye, sir."

* * *

DESTINY

"So, the drive _isn't_ fixed?" Young asked.

"I'm afraid so." Rush stared glumly at his console. "The bypass we set up has failed."

"How?" Wray spread her hands. "I thought Franklin used the computer to bypass the faulty module. We never actually finished the manual work."

"Yes. The problem, however, is that he did so by rerouting power through a secondary conduit." He manipulated the console, and a display appeared right in the middle of Wray's head.

"Sorry." She ducked out of the way. "So, this conduit wasn't designed to handle that kind of power?"

"Actually," Rush turned around, "it _was_ designed to handle that kind of power. And had the failure occurred when the ship was relatively new, I imagine that it would have served perfectly. However, as the conduit has been in use since the last Ice Age, it failed under the strain."

"Is there any other way of fixing the drive?" Young asked. "Maybe if someone else sat in the chair…"

"We'd need to build a new conduit."

"OK. How long would that take?"

"Years."

Young's eyes widened in surprise. "Years?"

"We would need to identify the raw materials needed, locate them somewhere in this galaxy, extract them, and build an industrial base with only seventy-four people."

Young took a moment to process this. One instinct was to have Rush get to work. But Young had to think long-term. They were stranded. They needed to survive.

First priority: know your area.

"So, where did _Destiny_ pull over?"

Eli switched the display from the power schematic to a diagram of the star system they were in.

"A-type star. Smaller than our Sun, but not emitting any kind of deadly radiation. There are seven planets that we can see, plus an asteroid belt." A line appeared showing their projected course. "We're on an orbital insertion trajectory for the second planet. Lisa, you had a spectroscopic analysis?"

"Just coming up now…" Dr. Park's expression dropped, "…uh-oh."

"What is it?" Young walked over.

"Well, the good news is, the atmosphere is 38% oxygen, and I'm not detecting any toxins. It should be perfectly breathable. The bad news is that the planet itself is a snowball. Completely frozen over."

"No life?" Wray's look changed from trepidation to curiosity.

"Not on the surface. We'll have access to water, but we'll need to look elsewhere for food."

"There are six addresses currently in range," Rush said.

"OK. Eli, get the kinos ready. I'll have Scott assemble a team."

Eli didn't respond. He was staring at his console.

"Eli?"

Eli looked up slowly.

"I think I'm picking up a radio signal. No, make that multiple radio signals."

"Radio signals?" Young knew that there were a number of natural phenomena that could give off radio signals.

"Can we hear them?" Wray asked.

Eli pressed a button. It sounded like static at first, but after a moment of listening, Young thought he could hear voices.

"Where are the signals coming from?" Young looked at Eli.

"Asteroid belt. Scanning… whoa." His eyes scanned the room, getting everyone's attention.

"Picking up over fifty contacts. It's a fleet… and we have incoming."

* * *

LT. SHARON "ATHENA" AGATHON

ON APPROACH TO UNKNOWN SHIP

"Athena to _Galactica_. ETA three minutes to target."

"_Copy that, Athena."_

Sharon tried to focus. It was hard. The hunger gnawing on her gut wasn't helping. Nor was the fear of the unknown.

The possibility of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe had been considered by both human and Cylon philosophers. Those humans of a religious bent had pointed out that nothing in the Sacred Scrolls mentioned life beyond Kobol. Cylons tended to be more open to the possibility, but they wondered why there was no evidence of it.

Well, now there was.

"_Galactica_, I have arrived."

"_Have they reacted to your presence yet?"_ President Roslin was on the other end.

"No."

"_You are authorized to open communications."_

Sharon drew in a deep breath, and spoke.

"Greetings. We are peaceful travelers from the Twelve Colonies of Kobol, and we mean you no harm. Please respond."

Sharon sent the speech.

The reply came back a moment later.

"_This is Colonel Everett Young of the United States Air Force, commanding officer of the starship Destiny. A pleasure to meet you."_


	2. Meeting

DESTINY SHUTTLE

ON APPROACH TO BATTLESTAR GALACTICA

"Hi, I'm James McManus," opened a man in a light gray suit, holding a microphone.

"And I'm Playa Palacios," said a woman in a beige skirt and green shirt.

"And this is 'The Colonial Gang'. In less than half an hour, we will be greeting the delegation from the starship _Destiny_. A historic occasion, this marks the first contact with an extrasolar – no, make that _extragalactic_ – intelligence."

"That's right, James. The information provided to us during yesterday's communications is stunning, and we're still trying to process it all. The biggest revelation, of course, concerns Earth. Some have accused President Roslin and Admiral Adama of lying to us, given that we now know that Earth is on the other side of the _universe_. Others still believe that we will find a way –"

"Riley, shut that off," Rush snapped.

"We've just made contact with an extraterrestrial civilization," Riley replied. "We need to learn as much as we can."

"And know what they think of us," added Chloe. Wray cocked an eyebrow at her grasp of the situation. But that was why they had brought her – she had a degree in political science _and_ experience on Capitol Hill.

"You can keep it on, Sergeant," Young decided.

"Thank you." Riley fiddled with the kino he had brought. With Eli holding down the fort on _Destiny_, he was in charge of documenting this.

"We're coming up alongside _Galactica_," Scott announced. Everyone scrambled to the windows to get a look.

The _Battlestar Galactica_ was twice as long as _Destiny_. Its shape was vaguely reminiscent of a shark. There were two large flight pods half the length of the ship, one on either side.

"_Galactica_, this is the shuttle from _Destiny_, requesting permission to land."

"_Permission granted, _Destiny _shuttle. Proceed to the port docking pod."_

"Copy that." Scott calmly guided the shuttle aboard.

* * *

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA

President Laura Roslin was nervous. _Very_ nervous. She had read the protocols, and reviewed everything they had learned about the humans from _Destiny_.

The Colonial government did not, in fact, have an official protocol for greeting a foreign delegation – it had never had to deal with one. Roslin had hoped to transfer the responsibility to _Destiny_, but they claimed that they had no docking bay to receive a Raptor.

"Get those flags arranged!" shouted Rachel Lambert. Once again, Roslin thanked the gods for finding her. The elderly woman had worked for the Scorpian government prior to the signing of the Articles of Colonization, and had attended at least one diplomatic affair in person. Out of necessity, Roslin had used the Scorpian protocols, and placed Lambert in charge of the setup.

The hangar had been decked out with the banners of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol. Absent was anything to recognize the newcomers, but that information hadn't been available. They also had no refreshments, due to the food shortage. Colonel Young had offered his assistance in that matter. His own ship was crippled, but perhaps the "Stargate" he had mentioned could be of assistance.

Everyone had dressed their best for the occasion. The military – excluding the deck crews – were all in their dress greys, and the civilians wore a variety of suits. Briefly, Roslin wondered what Earth delegation would be wearing.

To her surprise, they weren't dressed up much at all.

The first to exit the shuttle was a soldier in a black uniform. There were no medals or campaign ribbons, just an insignia on his shoulder and a nametag that read "Young" on his chest. Roslin inferred that he was Colonel Young, their leader.

He was followed by two civilians. The first looked even older than Adama. He had disheveled hair and a graying beard. He was dressed in a short-sleeved olive shirt over a longer white one, and blue pants. He somehow reminded Roslin of Baltar. The second was female, and dressed in a semi-formal manner.

The next two came out together. Roslin was struck by their youth – they had to be in their early twenties. One was military, dressed in a similar uniform to Young. His nametag read "Scott". Next to him was a young woman in a pink blouse.

The last one was another soldier in a black uniform, but he wasn't what caught Roslin's attention. That was the floating ball that followed him out. Off the suspicious looks of the soldiers, he explained: "Flying camera ball."

Young spoke: "Greetings. I'm Colonel Everett Young, commanding officer of the starship _Destiny_."

Roslin stepped forward. "President Laura Roslin of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol," she introduced herself, and extended her hand. "Welcome." Young shook it.

"My Vice President, Tom Zarek," Roslin introduced the man standing beside her. Young shook his hand as well.

Adama was next. "Admiral William Adama, commanding officer of the _Battlestar Galactica_."

"Permission to come aboard, sir?" Young asked.

"Granted." They shook.

Young gestured to those who followed him. He introduced them in the order they had come out. "This is Dr. Nicholas Rush, Camille Wray, Lieutenant Matthew Scott, Chloe Armstrong, and Sergeant Hunter Riley." He turned to the crowd.

"This morning, before coming here, I contacted my superiors on Earth. I have been ordered by the President of the United States of America to initiate diplomatic relations with the Twelve Colonies of Kobol. And on behalf of the Air Force, the United States of America, Homeworld Command, and the planet Earth, it is an honor to meet you."

The crowd applauded. Roslin sighed with relief.

"And now," Young continued, "I would like to begin carrying out my orders."

Roslin nodded. Colonel Tigh turned around.

"Atten-SHUN! Dis-MISSED!"

The crew dispersed.

* * *

Young was impressed by the reception the fleet had given them. He had expected a lot less. The presence of their President probably made a lot of difference.

Adama guided them to a conference room with a long table. Young and his people sat on one side, the Colonials on the other.

President Roslin spoke first.

"Colonel, I wish we could spend some time getting to know each other, but there are dire matters that concern this fleet. If you can help us, we need to know as soon as possible."

"I understand," he replied. "You mentioned a food shortage?"

"Yes, our food supplies have become contaminated. We only have seven days left at current rationing."

"Which is already at the limit," Colonel Tigh added. Roslin nodded at him, and turned back to Young.

"Do you have any food supplies you could spare?" she asked.

He shook his head. "Unfortunately, no. We have a few weeks' remaining, but that's for a crew of seventy-four. For 40,000 people, it wouldn't be a drop in the bucket. However, we might be able to help you find food elsewhere."

"We've already found food," Captain Agathon said. "There's a planet with these huge swaths of algae. Only problem is, there's a highly radioactive star cluster between here and there. We've been working on a way to navigate it, but I was hoping you could provide an alternative."

Roslin leaned forward. "Tell us about this 'Stargate' you mentioned."

"Rush?" Young turned to the man next to him.

"Very well." He got up, and went to the whiteboard.

"The Stargate is a device created by the Ancients – the race that built _Destiny_ – to travel between the stars. It's a ring about 6.7 meters in diameter composed of an element called naquadah." He sketched a gate on the whiteboard.

"The gate works by creating a wormhole between two gates in different locations. Each gate can be dialed by a special remote, or by manually rotating it into position. The Ancients seeded gates on habitable throughout many galaxies, including this one."

"So," Roslin stood, "if there's a Stargate on the planet below us, and another Stargate on the algae planet, we could use it to get there and harvest the algae without passing through the star cluster."

"Yes."

"Is there a Stargate on the planet below us?"

"Yes. And if we contact _Destiny_, they should be able to find out what the address of the algae planet is, assuming it has a Stargate. If it doesn't, we can scout the other planets within range."

The Colonials smiled, presumably at the thought of full bellies.

"Saul, assemble a team," Adama ordered.

"I'll send Sergeant Riley with you," Young said. "He's familiar with the operation of the gate."

"Thank you."

Tigh and Riley left.

"Well, now that you've potentially saved us from starvation," Roslin sat back down, "I'd like to see what we can do for you."

Young turned to Rush. He thought for a moment before speaking.

"If you're a spacefaring people, I imagine you have some ability to repair damaged spacecraft," he said.

Adama nodded.

"Much of _Destiny_ is exposed to space due to various hull breaches. I was thinking that you could send some people over to help us fix our ship."

"We'll have some difficulty coming up with raw materials…" Adama began.

"Not a problem," Young interrupted. "There are plenty of reserves aboard _Destiny_. We just don't have the manpower or tools."

"And we could do some in-system mining," Roslin added.

Chloe spoke up. "Do you have a doctor somewhere in the fleet?"

Adama's eyes widened slightly. "Doctor Cottle."

Young guessed where Chloe was going with this. "One of our people – Lieutenant Tamara Johanssen – is pregnant."

"She'll be welcome to come aboard for an examination," Roslin smiled.

"I'd also like to talk with some of your people about our respective technologies," Rush added. "We might have things we could teach each other."

"I'll introduce you to Lt. Gaeta," Adama said. "You and I can discuss defensive strategies."

"Sounds like a plan."

* * *

A/N: As with my other fic, I would like to encourage people to make suggestions or predictions for the plot. Because knowing what you expect makes surprising you so much easier.

After several people on another forum took issue with the Tau'ri calling themselves that, I cut the line in question.


	3. Discovery

A/N: I am aware that the Colonials use a different system of measuring angles. As this system is not elaborated on, I have decided to simply translate their measurements into ours.

Also, a lot of people have asked about Destiny's length. For the record, the Stargate Wiki states that Destiny is 2450 feet long - just over half a mile.

* * *

DESTINY

"Destiny_, this is Raptor Three on final approach."_

"Copy that, Raptor Three," Eli replied. "Brody, you in position?"

"_Got it. Flashlight's working and everything."_ Brody sounded nervous, but Eli wasn't surprised. Spacewalks made anyone nervous.

The problem with getting the Colonial shuttle – the "Raptor" – aboard _Destiny_ was that _Destiny_ lacked a docking bay of any kind. And while Scott had made a quick return trip to drop off Wray and Chloe, and pick up T.J. for her checkup, he had refused to "play taxi" for the duration of their stay in the system. Fortunately, the aliens who had boarded _Destiny_ had left a nice hole in a pressurized area, protected by the shield. And it happened to be on a section of flat hull large enough for a Raptor to land. However, as this section was not easily visible from the outside, Wray had sent Brody out in a spacesuit to signal them.

"_I see them,"_ Brody narrated. _"They're coming over… they've landed."_ Eli heard a distant _thunk_, which was corroborated by his sensor readouts.

Eli followed Wray to the section of the ship that was currently serving as an airlock. Through the window, he saw Brody descend through the hole, followed by three Colonials in spacesuits. Two of them wore olive-green suits, while the other wore a bulkier off-white suit. Eli deduced that the ones in the green suits were pilots – their suits would probably offer greater freedom of movement. Above them, the shield reappeared, and Eli heard the rush of atmosphere back into the compartment. All four of them removed their helmets. One was male – something like an older Scott – while the other two were female. The one in the white suit looked rather cute.

The door opened, and they all stepped through.

"Welcome aboard _Destiny_, Captain Agathon," Wray greeted the male pilot. "This is Eli Wallace."

"Captain Karl Agathon," he shook Eli's hand. "This is Lieutenant Sharon Agathon," he gestured to the other pilot "and Petty Officer Callandra Tyrol."

"Call me Cally," she smiled and shook Eli's hand. There was no need for Wray to introduce herself – after being on Young's delegation two days ago, Eli figured everyone in the fleet knew her name. He was slightly miffed about not going, but that had been replaced by the _cool_ factor of being in command of _Destiny_ until Wray's return. Young and Rush had remained aboard _Galactica_ for the time being.

"You can store your gear in the room over there," Wray gestured to the small compartment they used to store the Ancient spacesuits. "After that, I think Eli can give you the tour."

The Agathons, to Eli's surprise, did not take off their suits, only leaving their helmets and gloves behind. Without the helmets, Eli noted that the suits didn't look all that out of place when worn without the helmets. Cally did remove her entire suit. She had a plain brown T-shirt and grey slacks on underneath. Brody left as well, leaving Eli alone with the Colonial delegation.

"So… any questions before I begin the tour?" Eli asked nervously.

"Um, do you always walk around with that thing?" Lt. Agathon pointed to the kino floating nearby.

"Not always. But I think it's important to record what's going on." Eli relaxed. "See, I've been working on a documentary about life on _Destiny_. And as this is the first visit to _Destiny_ from your fleet, I thought this qualified."

"How does it work?" Cally asked.

"I control it with this." Eli held the remote up. "It's also how we dial the Stargate. They're pretty handy. Any other questions? No? Then we'll begin the tour." He took a deep breath. "This is the spacesuit room!"

* * *

SNOWBALL PLANET

"Sergeant, dial the gate before we all freeze to death!" Colonel Tigh ordered.

"Sorry, sir. The address isn't coming – oh, there it is." Sergeant Riley was wearing Colonial cold-weather gear, as were the other Earth personnel. _Destiny_ lacked anything sufficient for this weather, so Adama had donated a few jackets.

The Stargate lit up and began to spin. It rotated through at least 270 degrees before stopping. When it did, one of the symbols lit up. The gate resumed rotating, this time in the other direction.

"OK, everyone, stand back from the gate!" Lt. James shouted.

"What happens if you're too close?" Zarek asked.

"The unstable vortex will destroy any matter in its path," Dr. Volker explained.

"If you stand in front of the gate when it activates, you die," Sergeant Greer simplified.

Tigh did not like the sound of that. "You heard the woman! Get back from the gate!" A few workers who had been standing close to the gate scampered back.

Soon, the seventh symbol was dialed. Tigh had seen a video of the gate activating before, but that hadn't prepared him for what was coming. The vortex was almost like a horizontal geyser. It blasted out in front of the gate, and then settled into the event horizon, which resembled a pool of water.

"Now what, Sergeant?" Tigh asked Riley.

"Now we check for viability." Riley manipulated the controls on the remote, and the "kino" flew forward as if it was riding on an invisible track, right into the gate.

"How long before we know?" Tigh peered over Riley's shoulder.

"Just a moment… getting feedback now." The remote's display showed that the area around the gate was rocky. And sure enough, there were the swaths of algae Athena had spotted on her flyby. It was currently night on the planet they were on, but there it was daylight.

"All clear, sir," Riley nodded. Tigh turned to the others.

"Lieutenant James, Sergeant Greer, with me!" He rechecked his assault rifle before joining them on the ramp leading up to the gate. Their weapons were shouldered and pointed at the gate. Tigh copied their stance.

"Move on my signal!" he ordered. It was the duty of an officer – especially a senior officer like TIgh – to always show resolve. But Tigh felt more than a little trepidation at what he was about to do.

"One, two, three!"

Colonel Saul Tigh stepped into the event horizon of a wormhole. It was a truly bizarre feeling, being dematerialized and rematerialized on the other end. But that feeling was replaced by a warm breeze. In fact, it was rather hot. He saw the kino floating nearby.

Tigh hit his wireless. "All expedition members, move out!"

One by one, people began to stream out of the gate. First the Colonial soldiers, led by Ensign Anders. Then came the civilians. Chief Tyrol and his deck crew. Tom Zarek and the team from the _Astral Queen_. Tigh had been uncomfortable with the Vice President coming, but he had experience leading the former convicts that provided much of the fleet's heavy labor. Sergeant Riley was the last through.

"Tigh to Galactica, we have arrived on the algae planet."

"_Copy that, Colonel."_ Tigh recognized Dualla on the other end._ "Good luck. _Galactica_ out."_

The gate closed shortly afterwards. That was it.

Well, no point standing around. "Ensign! Form a perimeter! Chief, Mr. Vice President, get your people set up."

* * *

DESTINY

"This is the gateroom." Eli opened the door and led Cally, Helo, and Sharon inside. It was a large, mostly empty room. There were two consoles on either side, but Sharon's attention was drawn to the other end. There was the Stargate. The device that had brought the crew of _Destiny_ here, and was now going to save all their lives.

The ship itself was unbelievable. Sharon could accept that it was built by aliens, but its age still staggered the mind. This ship was older than anything the Colonials – or Cylons – had records of. And the people who lived aboard didn't even control it! Life on the fleet was hard, but at least they had some control over their fates. The crew of _Destiny_ had no idea what the next day would bring.

"So, we can use this gate to travel to any planet in range?" Helo asked.

"Yes. This gate's actually been modified to be able to work while in close proximity to another gate. That's how Lt. James and Sergeant Greer got down to the planet. See, gate addresses are tied to coordinates in space, but _Destiny_'s gate has a unique address that doesn't change…"

Eli went on for a bit about Stargates and the dialing system and how he was the one who figured out how to dial the "ninth chevron" which got them on board. Sharon didn't understand it all, but she was surprised to hear that Eli was not a scientist or engineer, but a college dropout who had been recruited after the government hid a mathematical problem in a _game_.

Seeing that Helo's eyes were starting to glaze over, Eli quickly wrapped up his lecture and moved on.

* * *

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA

"So, what can you tell me about their technology?" Young asked Rush. They were alone in Colonel Tigh's quarters, which Adama had lent them while Tigh was on the algae planet.

"To tell the truth, I was rather disappointed." Rush sat down on the couch. "They're easily the most primitive spacefaring civilization we've encountered. Most of their technology is no better than Earth prior to the discovery of the Stargate. Their computers are especially primitive, due to their experiences with the Cylons… what did the Admiral tell you about them?"

Young sat next to him. "Race of sentient machines they created some fifty-odd years back. They rebelled, fought a war, then left. Then they came back, nuked the hell out of the Colonials' homeworlds, and now they're chasing the fleet."

"If Eli were here," Rush smirked, "he'd be quoting any number of science fiction films with a similar premise. Anyway, the only areas where the Colonials surpass Earth are artificial gravity and FTL travel. Their artificial gravity seems no less or more advanced than what we've been able to reverse engineer from the Goa'uld, but their FTL travel is more interesting. They can travel instantly across interstellar distances, probably using a variation on wormhole drive. I considered the idea of trying to install one of their drives on _Destiny_, but there are a million obstacles to that idea – such as them not having one to spare."

Rush was silent for a minute, letting Young digest what he had just said. "How did your meeting with Admiral Adama go?" he finally asked.

"We went over what _Destiny_ has in terms of defense capability relative to _Galactica_ or a Cylon Base Star," Young summarized. "We're limited by our lack of maneuverability, but Adama doubted the Cylons could actually inflict any damage on the ship. The worst they have are nukes, and _Destiny_ survived the inside of a sun."

"Actually, I was interested in what you thought of the Admiral himself," Rush smiled.

Young leaned back. "He's one hell of a leader. Not to mention rather intimidating. I'd hate to screw up under his command. He's not really sure what to make of us. I think he believes our intentions are honorable, and would rather obtain our help to survive instead of having us as an enemy. But if we ever come to cross purposes with the Fleet, he won't hesitate to defend himself."

* * *

DESTINY

"…and _this_ is the mess hall," Eli gestured around the room. There were several tables with benches arranged around the room. Cally found it rather strange that a ship built by aliens would have a mess hall. Then again, aliens had to eat _somewhere_, she supposed. And according to Eli, the Ancients looked pretty much like humans.

"So, what kind of food do you eat?" Cally asked.

"Well, right now, most of what we have left is protein powder. There's some dried fruit from the previous galaxy we visited, and a few vegetables from the hydroponics labs…" Eli must have noticed their hungry expressions. "Becker?"

A black soldier in a beige shirt came over with a metal pan. In it were three small dried yellow fruits. Cally took one and scarfed it down. It tasted rather bitter. Helo and Athena ate the other two.

"You guys must really be hungry over there," Becker smiled. "Most people hate them, which is why they're still around."

"It's pretty bad," Athena said. "We're lucky you found us and showed us how to use the Stargates. I can't imagine having to fly the entire fleet through that star cluster."

"We're on rations ourselves at the moment, but you're welcome to join us for dinner later," Eli offered.

"That would be _wonderful_," Cally sighed at the thought of having more than a couple of crackers to eat.

* * *

EIGHT DAYS LATER

"_OK, try it now!"_

Eli pressed the button to open the docking bay hatch. He watched on the kino as they slowly opened outwards, revealing a Raptor hovering outside the ship.

"Raptor Three, you are cleared for landing," he said in a confident tone. The kino showed the Raptor descending into the just-completed docking bay. Brody and Cally were in spacesuits off to the side, next to the panel they were using to provide power to the door mechanism.

"Closing doors… repressurizing… no leaks!" Eli smiled. The hatch project, which had taken up most of his time and energy over the last week, was finally complete.

The Colonials had a very limited manufacturing capability. They couldn't build engines to power new Vipers, for instance. They were limited to what they had on hand, plus whatever the mining ships found in their brief stops.

However, they were able to patch _Destiny_ up. Most of the ship now had atmosphere. There had been some concern about life support, but Dunning's search party had found another set of CO2 scrubbers near the front of the ship – and a store of the compound the Ancients had used to filter the CO2 from the air. There was talk of taking in refugees from the overcrowded Colonial fleet.

The docking bay had been one of their most critical projects. The room had been discovered shortly after they had arrived aboard _Destiny_. It was large and circular, topped with a transparent dome. Unfortunately, the dome had a large hole in it, and the shield there was not 100% effective.

The Colonials had cut away the entire dome, recycling most of the support beams to build the framework for the hatch. The metal covering was just cheap steel plating, but it did the job. The hatch was large enough for a Raptor to pass through, or even _Destiny_'s own shuttle. They could only hold a few ships at a time, but now the Colonials could easily use their own craft to travel to _Destiny_.

There had been other upgrades. The Stargate now had a steel iris similar to the one that protected Earth's gate from intruders. And the mining ships had come up with enough copper to build a new power conduit for _Destiny_'s FTL. They hadn't quite finished it yet, partly because they wanted to install a breaker that would enable the crew to disable the FTL drive at will. The "race against the clock before _Destiny_ jumps to FTL and leaves you behind" would be a thing of the past.

Beyond repairing the ship, other things had changed. Eli had made new friends among the Colonials, particularly Cally. Two days ago, she had taken a break from work on _Destiny_ to visit her son on _Galactica_, and Eli had accompanied her. _Galactica_ was something of a disappointment compared to the mysterious _Destiny_ or the clean _George Hammond_, but it was still a spaceship.

The past few years had not been good to Eli. It had started at MIT, when his lack of motivation had gotten the better of him, which lead to him dropping out. Then he had spent a few years at home, moving from job to job, spending most of his time playing video games. Ending up on _Destiny_ had finally given him a purpose in life, but that purpose was mixed with danger and uncertainty.

For the first time in ages, Eli was actually looking forward to tomorrow. He was excited.

* * *

ALGAE PLANET

Sergeant Greer was bored.

Life aboard _Destiny_ was frequently filled with excitement – and usually danger. But the several weeks in space had been rather monotonous, apart from the incident with the LSD ticks. He had been looking forward to getting off the ship, but they had been here for eight days. Greer, as one of the few personnel from _Destiny_ on the operation, had been stationed near the gate for most of that time. But now that the Colonials were more comfortable with gate operations, he had been moved around somewhat. Right now, he was on perimeter duty.

He noticed Chief Tyrol wandering around outside the perimeter.

"Chief? What are you doing?" he called.

Tyrol looked around, as if he didn't know the answer.

"Nothing, Sergeant. Just taking a walk."

"Don't lie to me, Chief," Greer smiled. "You've been working your ass off for the last week. If you wanted a break, you'd be taking a nap. Now, why are you outside the perimeter?"

Tyrol sighed.

"For the last ten days," he said in a low voice, "I've been distracted by… something. I don't know what. All I know is that it's coming from those hills." He pointed to a rough hilly area due east. "I was thinking about checking it out."

Greer thought about it. His Marine training told him to ignore Tyrol's feelings and tell him to get back to work. But his Stargate training said something completely different.

"Sometimes, there will be something that only one person can sense," his instructor had said. "It might be their genes. It might be they have a connection to something. Or it might be because they're actually paying attention. Nine times out of ten, it's nothing. But that tenth time, it's something you need to know about. So unless you've got a good reason, check it out. Do a proper recon."

"OK, Chief. We'll investigate this feeling of yours." He radioed James. "Lieutenant?"

"_Yes, Sergeant?"_

"Chief Tyrol is getting some funny feelings about the hills to the east. Request permission to perform recon."

"_Permission granted, Sergeant. Get the kino and a spare remote before you go. Radio us if you find anything."_

"Affirmative."

* * *

The hike took Greer and Tyrol through some dense scrub. Tyrol and the kino led the way, while Greer covered him. Just when Greer was about to turn back, they came across a doorway that led into the hill – one that was clearly artificial.

"Greer to base camp," he radioed. "Confirm pre-existing presence of sentient life."

"Say again, Sergeant?" Dualla replied.

"I said, confirm pre-existing presence of sentient life," Greer repeated. "We've found a carved passageway into the hill. Radio _Destiny_ and _Galactica_ to report."

Tyrol led them further inside. The passageway led to a massive domed room. It had a central spire surrounded by carved obelisks. Sunlight filtered down from an opening at the top. But what caught Greer's attention were the walls.

There was writing on the walls.

_Ancient_ writing.

* * *

In orbit above the planet, four Cylon Base Stars appeared.


	4. Temple

ALGAE PLANET

"_Do you really think you've found the Temple of Five?"_ Roslin asked over the radio.

"Yeah. I recognize it from the books in my father's study, Madame President. He was a priest, and the Temple of Five was an important part of our faith. Well, his faith anyways." Tyrol replied. He and Greer had been joined by several other soldiers from the base camp. A few personnel from Destiny had brought additional kinos to record the writing for later translation.

"Could this be related to the Eye of Jupiter?" she asked.

"You got me, Madame President."

"Got something!" Sergeant Riley called from one of the walls. "_'Oculus Iupiter'_ - 'Eye of Jupiter'. Not sure where it is – I'll need Eli or Rush to take a look at it."

From outside, Tyrol heard a low roar, like aircraft flying overhead. His fears were soon confirmed by Tigh's voice on the radio.

"_Alert, we have spotted Cylon Heavy Raiders. Repeat, we have spotted Cylon Heavy Raiders. All personnel are to fall back to the gate immediately."_

Nobody wasted any time. The survey team beat a hasty retreat through the passageway and down the hill, followed by half a dozen kinos. Out of the corner of his eye, Tyrol spotted a squad of Centurions. Riley sent a kino their way. Moments later, there was a burst of gunfire.

"What was that for?" Greer shouted.

"Diversion!" Riley replied. Another burst of gunfire indicated that the Cylons had missed the target at first.

When they arrived at the base camp around the gate, Zarek was directing crates and personnel through the gate while Tigh and Anders organized a defense.

"Enemy spotted!" someone shouted. Gunfire erupted somewhere behind Tyrol. He heard bullets whizzing over his head. One ricocheted off the gate. Another hit Riley in the arm. He went down screaming.

"Come on!" Tyrol picked Riley up by his good arm and carried him through the gate after Zarek and the last of the civilians. He was hit by a blast of cold air on the other end. Tigh, Anders, Greer, and the rest of the soldiers followed. The gate closed soon afterwards.

"Dial _Destiny_!" James ordered. "Riley, where's your remote?"

"I think I dropped it," he moaned.

"Frak it!" Tigh swore.

* * *

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA

The leaders of the Colonial Fleet and those of _Destiny_ met on Galactica's bridge. Wray had insisted on being involved. Scott had brought her over on the shuttle.

"If the Eye of Jupiter is the way to Earth, we cannot allow the Cylons to get their hands on it," Roslin declared.

"There's no way to launch an assault through the gate," Tigh countered. "The Cylons know that we used the gate to escape, they'll probably figure that we can return through it. They'll have it under heavy guard. Our men would get slaughtered."

"I'm more concerned with the Cylons gaining access to the gate network," Wray said. "They have a remote, and they're probably trying to figure it out right now."

"If they get a team through the gate, they could get a star fix, and determine our location," Rush pointed out. "If they're machines like you say, it shouldn't be a problem for them."

"Send a nuke through," Young suggested. "We take out the gate, the Eye of Jupiter, and with any luck the remote. Not to mention any Cylons on the surface."

"We only have six nukes left!" Tigh shouted.

"Well, this sounds like the perfect time to use one," Young replied sardonically.

"Colonel Tigh, how many people do we have left on the planet right now?" Adama asked.

"Zarek is still organizing the last of the food shipments. He insisted to be on the last Raptor out." Tigh grimaced. He clearly considered Zarek's actions nothing more than a publicity stunt. "Almost all of the military personnel on the surface are from _Destiny_. If we have to evac, they'll use the gate to get aboard."

"What if the Cylons dial _Destiny_'s gate?" Roslin asked.

"That's what the iris is for," Young answered. "Anyone who tries to gate aboard _Destiny_ while it's closed will be killed instantly. Wray, what's the status of the FTL drive?"

Wray shook her head. "Eli says he's close, but he's been close for two days."

"In the meantime," Young continued "there are steps we can take to prevent the Cylons from attacking the ice planet via the gate."

"How?" Adama asked.

"We dial out. If we dial out and send a radio signal through the gate –"

Dualla interrupted them. "Admiral, getting a signal from our camp on the planet. They're under attack."

"That was fast," Rush commented.

"Patch it through speakers." Dualla nodded, and Zarek's voice came through. Gunfire could be heard in the background.

"_Galactica, the Cylons have launched an attack through the gate. At least 20 Centurions and some equipment. Lieutenant James and her people are holding them so far, but we've been cut off from the gate…"_

"Just like you said, Doctor," Roslin grimaced.

"Mr. Vice President, how many people are left?" Adama asked.

"_Just me, the soldiers from Destiny, and a few more crates of food. There's supposed to be a Raptor inbound..."_

There was a small explosion in the background.

"What was that?" Roslin asked.

"Grenade. The Cylons are dead – no wait a minute…" The sound of gunfire was heard. "Yes, they're dead."

"Get that Raptor down there!" Adama ordered.

* * *

DESTINY

"Picking up new contacts!" Volker yelled. Eli looked at the screen. Yup, four new contacts, almost right on top of the fleet.

"Base Stars," Helo stated plainly. Eli picked up his radio. "All hands, battle stations. Cally, we need that FTL drive online ASAP."

"_Working on it!"_

Eli punched up the weapons systems. He also radioed _Galactica_.

"Galactica, this is _Destiny_. You seeing this?"

"_Affirmative,"_ came Admiral Adama's voice.

"So, are we jumping?"

"_Negative. The fleet needs a few minutes to spool up their FTL drives. We need to cover them."_

"Got it. FYI, we have no maneuverability."

"They're launching Raiders!" Volker alerted him.

"Target the Raiders with the turrets," Eli ordered, slipping into the mindset of every starship captain from James T. Kirk to Everett Young. "And bring the main gun online. Lisa, radio our people on the ice planet. Tell them to gate aboard now."

"Um, Eli?" Volker called over. "One of the Base Stars is moving around us. We should have a firing solution for the main gun in a moment."

"Well, get it into position!" Eli rolled his eyes.

The display showed a yellow cone, indicating the area that _Destiny_'s main gun could target. Sure enough, a Base Star was inside that cone. A line representing the current trajectory moved towards the Base Star until it lined up.

"Target acquired," Volker said.

Eli took a deep breath.

"Open fire."

The primary plasma cannon fired a blast at the Cylon Base Star. The first hit vaporized a massive section of the hull, exposing the ship's interior to space.

The second hit took out life support and the Hybrid.

The third hit took out propulsion and set off the tylium reserves, blowing the Base Star to pieces.

* * *

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA

"So, what's the plan?" Rush asked.

"The plan," Young explained "is to get our asses back to _Destiny_ as fast as we can."

"Meaning we have to fight our way through dozens of Cylon fighters," Wray observed wryly.

"There isn't much of a choice. This is the only chance we've got to return to _Destiny_ before the Fleet jumps."

"_Bumper, you are cleared for launch."_

"Copy, Galactica." Young smiled at the first use of his callsign in over a decade. He hit the throttle, and the Ancient shuttle launched into space.

Almost immediately, he had to take evasive action. The Cylons weren't this close to _Galactica_, but they were pumping out a seemingly endless supply of missiles. Young swung around and made a hard burn for _Destiny_.

"Bogey on our six!" Rush shouted. Young could hear bullets pinging off of the shuttle's hull. He cut the engines, and the Raider overtook them.

"Fire!" Young shouted. Scott squeezed the trigger, and the shuttle's twin plasma guns opened up on the Raider, tearing it apart.

"Two more! Four o'clock!"

Young dodged and weaved. The shuttle wasn't quite as maneuverable as the Cylon Raiders, but it had the edge in resilience and firepower.

"Colonel, I'm picking up radioactive signatures from one of the Base Stars," Rush announced. "They are preparing to fire nuclear missiles."

"How long to _Destiny_?" Wray asked, fear creeping into her voice.

"At least three minutes," Young grunted.

Ahead, he could see _Destiny_. The Cylons were firing hundreds of missiles at her, and _Destiny_ was replying with plasma cannons. Already, one of the Base Stars had been destroyed. The Ancient ship was old and falling apart, but she had a massive technological edge.

There was a blinding burst of light as the first Cylon nuke struck _Destiny._

* * *

DESTINY

The ship shuddered and the lights flickered. It was the first time that had happened during the battle.

"What was that?" Eli asked.

"Nuclear detonation!" Volker reported.

"Are the shields holding?"

"So far. But we're getting power surges throughout the ship."

"Get everyone out of the corridors!" Eli ordered.

"All civilian ships have jumped," Park announced.

"Brody, do we have FTL capability or not?" Eli shouted into his radio.

"_Almost done!"_ Brody replied.

The lights flickered again. And again. The Cylons were launching more nukes. Fortunately, the shield continued to hold. There was nothing the Cylons could do to harm _Destiny_.

But the shuttle was another matter. If a nuke hit while it was on approach, the ship could be vaporized.

Eli manipulated the controls, radioing the shuttle.

"Colonel, come in!"

_"Yes, Eli?"_ Young answered.

"The Cylons are launching nuclear strikes on _Destiny_. You will be destroyed if you approach. Return to _Galactica_. I repeat, return to _Galactica_."

There was a moment of silence. Then Young spoke again.

"_Affirmative. Returning to _Galactica_. Godspeed_, Destiny_."_

A minute later, _Galactica_ jumped away.

"Cease firing," Eli ordered gravely. "Divert all power to the shield."

Another nuke.

"Brody, I need that FTL drive!

_"Done!"_

_Destiny_ jumped into FTL, leaving the Cylons behind.


	5. Split

DESTINY

ONE HOUR EARLIER

"Eli?" Young knocked on the doorway as he entered the control interface room.

"Colonel!" Eli muted the sound on his console like a kid caught watching porn. "I was just…"

"Listening to Colonial talk radio?" Young gave a knowing smile.

"Actually, they call it talk _wireless_…" Eli started to correct him.

"It's okay, I don't have a problem. Anyway, I assume you heard what happened on the algae planet?"

"Cylons attacked, we got pushed back through the gate, and now the Colonials are panicking about the Cylons coming after the Fleet," Eli summarized what he had heard.

"Pretty much. Rush, Wray, and I are headed over to _Galactica_ for a conference with Admiral Adama. While I'm over there, I'm putting you in command of _Destiny_."

"Me?" Eli was surprised. This wasn't the first time he had been in charge, but that was when they weren't expecting anything to happen. Now, there was tension in the air, and visions of machine warships tearing _Destiny_ to pieces were playing out in Eli's head.

"You know _Destiny_'s systems better than anyone apart from Rush. If the Cylons attack while I'm over there, I want someone who knows what he's doing."

Eli blushed slightly at the praise. "I'll do my best," he said finally.

"I know you will. Besides, I won't be gone long." Young patted him on the arm.

* * *

DESTINY

PRESENT

"All systems check out," Volker reported. "We're in FTL."

"How long before we drop out?" Helo asked.

"No idea," Brody stared at a console.

"It's usually at least a day," Park explained.

"So, what do we do now?" Volker looked at Eli.

Eli said nothing. He didn't have an answer. This wasn't what he had expected. Yes, he had told Colonel Young to turn around and return to _Galactica_, but he hadn't realized what that would mean. All of _Destiny_'s senior personnel were gone.

Leaving him in charge.

Eli had never attended a military academy, had never undergone any sort of military training beyond the fitness stuff Scott had them do. But he did have role models for this sort of thing. During the battle with the Cylons, he had imagined himself as Captain Kirk commanding the _Enterprise_. He had imagined that they were surrounded by Klingons, and that their warp drive was down. "What would Kirk do?" he had asked himself. The answer had been "fire all weapons and yell at Scotty to fix the warp drive". So he had fired his weapons and yelled at Brody and Cally. And it had turned out pretty well.

This time, he chose a different role model. The only one who could apply to this situation. This time, he asked himself "What would Colonel Young do?"

"Tell everyone to get to work on a solution to their problem, then contact Earth."

Okay. What was the problem?

The problem was that they were separated from the Fleet, and needed to find them. Eli saw three ways to do so: get control of the ship, use the gate system to find them, or send out the Raptor on a scouting mission.

"Lisa, Volker," he said aloud, "I want you to start going over Dr. Rush's notes on cracking _Destiny_'s master code. Your job is to finish his work so we can take control of the ship and go find the Fleet."

"Eli, that could take months," Volker whined.

"Then get started!" Eli raised his voice. "I'll help you when I can. Helo, I want you and Athena to get your Raptor ready for a possible reconnaissance mission."

"Aye, sir," Helo nodded and left. Eli smiled at being called "sir", especially by a veteran officer who might actually be better off commanding the ship than Eli.

That was everyone in the room. He picked up his radio.

"Greer?"

"_Yes, Eli?"_ he replied.

"You need be ready to go through the gate as soon as we come out of FTL. Hopefully, the Fleet will try to use the gates to find us as well. Assemble a team."

"_Copy."_

Eli set down his radio. He headed to the stone room. On the way, he stopped by the infirmary.

There were three people on the beds. Fortunately, none of them seemed to be critically wounded, judging by TJ not running around. She was checking on Sergeant Riley when she noticed Eli standing in the doorway.

"Eli," she greeted him, not moving from her spot.

"What's the situation here?" he asked. He doubted there was anything he could do, but it felt right to know. He supposed that a commander should know who was out of action at any given time.

"Well, Riley was wounded during the initial Cylon attack on the algae planet. The bullet went through his arm and broke it, but it'll heal eventually. Fortunately, it missed any major arteries."

She walked over to another patient. Eli recognized him as Airman Dunning. The right side of his head was covered in blood.

"Dunning took a bullet to the head during the Cylon attack on the ice planet," TJ narrated. "The bullet bounced off his skull, but he's got a serious concussion. I don't know if he'll recover."

Eli followed her to the third patient. It was Airman O'Hara. Unlike Dunning, she was conscious, and had no visible injuries.

"Hey, how are you doing?" he asked.

"Better than Dunning," she smiled.

"We found her in one of the corridors near the shield generators," TJ explained. "I think a power surge electrified the corridor, and she was shocked."

TJ removed the blanket covering O'Hara's legs, revealing some rather hideous burns.

"Oh, man," Eli said.

"Fortunately, the jolt wasn't very strong. She'll be out of action a few days, but she'll be fine."

"Is there anything you need?"

"What I need," a male voice from behind said, "is to know what is going on."

Eli turned around to see an older man in civilian clothes. He recognized him as Tom Zarek, Vice-President of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol. Eli had heard plenty about him from Cally.

"Mr. Vice-President," Eli greeted him. "I'm Eli Wallace."

"I hear Colonel Young left you in charge," Zarek smiled. "How long before we rejoin the Fleet?"

"There's no way to know," Eli answered. "Not for a while. I promise you that finding the Fleet is our first priority." An idea popped into his head, a way to get the politician out of his hair. "In the meantime, maybe you could give Lieutenant Johanssen a hand with treating the wounded?"

Zarek didn't step back, but Eli saw the defeat in his eyes. "I'll do what I can."

"Thank you. I'm going to report back to Earth. Yank me if anything happens."

* * *

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA

The flight deck was bustling with activity. Crews towed damaged Vipers to repair areas. Pilots wandered around, finding out who survived and what was going on. Noncoms shouted orders, directing people to where they needed to go.

And in one section, an Ancient shuttle deposited four people who were lost beyond words.

It was strange, Colonel Young thought. Being stuck on the other side of the universe should be enough to make one lost. But on _Destiny_, he had had his crew, the people under his command, most of whom he had known from Icarus. And over time, _Destiny_ itself became familiar. He wasn't quite ready to call it a home, but it was a shelter.

Now, he was separated from that shelter. There was no way of knowing where _Destiny_ was. For the time being, Young was stuck with the Fleet, along with Dr. Rush, Camille Wray, and Lieutenant Scott.

Young looked around the flight deck. He looked at the people. He recognized many of the faces. Some of them he could connect to names. Most importantly, he knew that he would have to work with these people now.

This was his new shelter.

* * *

EARTH

HOMEWORLD COMMAND

General O'Neill was not in a good mood. Three separate accidents had reduced traffic in the D.C. area to a standstill. He wished he could use some other means to get to work. He had requested a set of transport rings to be installed in his basement, but the IOA had vetoed the idea.

After going through security, he arrived at his office to find Dr. Bill Lee examining the décor. Something told him that this was someone from _Destiny_. Probably a civilian.

"Hello?" he said.

"General!" Not-Lee lightened up instantly. He extended his hand. "Eli Wallace. You beamed me out of my house."

"Oh! Good times." O'Neill's habit of processing surprises with humor often fell on deaf ears, but Eli smiled.

"So, report." O'Neill sat down in his chair. "What's going on out there, and why are you the one delivering the message?"

"Long story." Eli sat Lee's body down. "The short version is, the Cylons attacked us. First they hit the algae planet, then they came through the gate to the ice planet we were orbiting. Then they came in ships and attacked the fleet. We went into FTL, the Colonials jumped away, and now we're separated."

"What's Colonel Young doing to try and find them?" It wasn't _critical_ that _Destiny_ remain in contact with the Colonial Fleet, but they had proved useful in repairing the ship. Also, a lot of people wanted to know how a bunch of humans with no knowledge of the Stargate ended up on the other side of the universe.

"That's the thing, sir." Every trace of humor was gone from Lee's face. "Colonel Young was aboard the _Battlestar Galactica_ when the Cylons attacked, and was unable to return to _Destiny_. Dr. Rush, Camille Wray, and Lieutenant Scott were with him – they had come aboard for a tactical conference."

The implications of this hit O'Neill. _Destiny_ had just lost its four most senior personnel, creating a power vacuum.

"So, just who _is_ in command over there?" he asked.

"I am," Eli replied.

That was a surprise. "You are, Mr. Wallace?"

"Colonel Young left me in command while he and the others left for _Galactica_, sir. I know _Destiny_'s systems better than anyone apart from Rush." Eli wasn't bragging – he was reciting. Young had probably used those words to justify leaving Eli in command.

"Mr. Wallace," O'Neill leaned back, "normally I would never consider putting something as important as _Destiny_ under the command of someone without years of leadership experience. But if what you're telling me is true, there isn't anyone like that on _Destiny_, is there?"

Eli shook Lee's head.

"So, my question to you is this: what are you doing to find Colonel Young and the Colonial Fleet?"

Eli took a deep breath before speaking. "I've put Park and Volker to work trying to crack _Destiny_'s master code. If we could gain control of the ship, we could easily go look for them. And when we next drop out of FTL, I'll try and use the gate system to find them. With any luck, they'll stick to planets with gates. We also have a Raptor – a Colonial shuttle with an FTL drive – to scout nearby systems."

O'Neill was impressed.

"Good answer. You're making a real effort, and you're considering multiple options. So I'm officially making you _Destiny_'s acting commander."

"Thank you, sir," Eli replied. His eyes moved around, indicating that he was remembering something. "I could use some leadership advice, sir."

"Advice? On what?"

"On leadership. Right now, I'm going on 'what would Colonel Young do?' – or maybe Captain Picard." Eli chuckled. "I could use some proper advice."

"That's another good sign – you're willing to ask for advice when you need it." The words brought up an old memory of O'Neill's. "The first thing you ought to do is figure out who you'll go to for advice. You'll need a second-in-command, preferably military. You've lost all your senior personnel, so you'll need some structure."

"I'll get on that right away," Eli nodded. With any luck, he was already considering his options.

O'Neill continued. "It's important for a leader – especially military – to always look like he knows what he's doing, even when he isn't. If people realize that you're as lost as they are, they'll lose faith in you. If someone has issues with your leadership, talk it out in private."

"Learn to delegate. You don't have to handle everything yourself. In particular, you shouldn't go through the Stargate personally unless you need to."

"Thank you, sir." Eli stood up and headed to the door.

"One more thing," O'Neill said. Eli turned around.

"What is it, sir?"

"Young was a fine officer, but he wasn't perfect. And Captain Picard was written by Hollywood. Try to think for yourself."

"I will, sir," Eli nodded.

"Dismissed."

* * *

COLONIAL ONE

"Madam President, do we have a plan to find _Destiny_?" one reporter asked.

"Our plan is to follow the path of Stargates that _Destiny_ will be following," Roslin answered. "The shuttle's database contains a copy of _Destiny_'s logs, including the coordinates of the different gates in space."

Another chorus of voices. Roslin picked a male reporter out.

"Isn't it true that _Destiny_'s FTL drive can cross hundreds of light years in a few days, while the same journey would take us weeks?"

"That is correct. However, with the new breaker installed, they will be able to stop the ship indefinitely. Our hope is that they will shut down their drive once they come out of FTL, so we can catch up."

More questions. Roslin fielded them expertly. Rush found it remarkable how the press conference here resembled those on Earth – especially as only a handful of people in the room were trained reporters, according to Tory Foster. Most were civilians who had been assigned as reporters by the captains of whatever ship they found themselves on. Over the two years or so since the Cylon attack on the Colonies, they had become a dedicated press corps.

"Madam President, who will assume the duties of Vice-President Zarek during his absence?"

"That will be determined by a special meeting of the Quorum of Twelve this afternoon."

"Is it true that Admiral Adama has been proposed as a candidate?"

"No comment."

More inane questions about politics. Rush was starting to tune out until someone finally asked a good question.

"Madam President, until now, the goal of this Fleet has been to find Earth, the supposed destination of the Thirteenth Tribe. Now we know that Earth lies on the far side of the universe, and there is no real hope of reaching it on our own power, what will we do?"

"I believe Dr. Nicholas Rush may have an answer." Roslin turned to him. Fortunately, Rush _did_ have an answer. He stepped up to the podium.

"It is true that neither _Destiny_ nor any ship in the Colonial Fleet is capable of reaching Earth on its own power within our lifetimes. However, in our explorations of the universe, we have discovered many other ways to travel across the stars." He smiled.

"After all, we made it here." Several reporters chuckled at the remark.

"The fact," he continued, "that the name of the planet that the Thirteenth Tribe settled on is the same as the name of my home planet cannot be a coincidence. It is our… theory… that the Thirteenth Tribe may have found some other means of reaching Earth."

"Such as?" a reporter asked.

"The most likely candidate would be a planet with rich deposits of naquadriah, similar to the planet we used to gate on board _Destiny_. If such a planet could be found in this galaxy, we could then use the Stargate to dial Earth. It is also possible that they found a power source that enabled them to make the journey more quickly."

"In the meantime," Roslin took back the microphone, "we will endeavor to locate _Destiny_ so we may search for the way to Earth together."

More questions.

* * *

DESTINY

"_Lieutenant James?"_ Eli's voice came over the radio.

"Yes?" James answered, wondering why he would contact her.

"_Please see me in Colonel Young's office immediately."_

Oh, right. He was in command now. James was somewhat embarrassed about having forgotten.

"On my way."

When she got there, Eli was sitting in Young's chair, looking at a laptop.

"You called?" James wasn't entirely sure what protocol to use with a civilian in command.

"Ah, yes." Eli closed the laptop. "I need you to be my second in command."

"Your _what_?" James was taken aback.

"You take over if I get killed or something," he deadpanned. "I've given it some thought, and you're the best candidate for the job."

"Eli," she started, "I've never been in a command position before."

"Not true." Eli leaned back in his chair. "You led the team to try and rescue me, Scott, and Chloe when we got left behind. And you graduated from the Air Force Academy."

"I'm not the only officer left on board," she pointed out.

"We need TJ in the infirmary," he replied. "And Helo doesn't know this ship, or the crew. Same goes for Athena."

James was trying to think of a response when she heard a familiar droning sound. Her vision was briefly distorted.

"That was quick," Eli got up and headed to the door. James followed.

* * *

COLONIAL ONE

"And this," Tory Foster opened another door, "is the Administration Room. Formerly Cargo Bay 4."

Camille Wray stepped through the door. The room itself was nothing special at first glance – a series of about twenty cubicles. A single water cooler sat to one side, next to a printer. It could have been her workplace at the State Department, before she joined the IOA.

Somehow intrigued by how familiar it seemed, Wray took a closer look. She wandered between the cubicles. As she did, various discrepancies popped out at her.

First, the cubicles weren't separated by the fabric-covered portable walls of an Earth office. They were simple cloth partitions hung from plastic frames. Their computers looked clunkier and more primitive than those used on Earth – strange for a civilization that had developed artificial intelligence. As she had seen elsewhere, Colonial paper was octagonal, with the corners cut off. The desks themselves were not all the same – Wray noticed at least three different styles in use. And while most of the desks were in use, many weren't.

"Something wrong?" Foster asked her.

"Um… where did you get all this?" Wray asked. "It seems to me that you didn't exactly have a ship loaded with office supplies."

"We didn't," Foster explained. "The _Matadan_ – one of our cargo ships – was carrying a container of flat-pack furniture. The chairs are from _Cloud Nine_, a luxury liner that was destroyed over a year ago. The computers are from all over the fleet – we had to requisition them. Half the people in this room got their jobs because they owned a computer."

Foster sighed. "I know it doesn't look like much, but this room contains the entire administrative branch of our government. Housing, logistics, commerce, education, everything except military and legislative affairs are run out of this room."

"Military?" Wray raised an eyebrow.

"That's handled by Admiral Adama and _Galactica_."

"You don't have civilian oversight of the military?" That seemed like a bad idea.

"President Roslin is consulted on all major decisions."

"So, where will I be working?" Wray looked around.

"You'll be taking Maller's desk." Foster led her to a vacant cubicle. "I believe you brought your own computer?"

Wray opened her bag and showed Foster her Dell laptop.

"They got the charger working?" Foster asked.

Wray nodded. The Colonials used a different voltage than Earth, but Rush had been able to slap together a transformer for her. In fact, Wray swore that Rush had enjoyed making it.

"You said you're human resources, so I've got a human resources issue." Foster handed her a folder. "These are people who need reassignment elsewhere in the Fleet. Some of them have families. Some have no useful skills. All are stuck on overcrowded ships."

"Do you have a list of ships?" Wray asked. Foster pointed to the desk. A single sheet of paper was attached to the cloth partition by a safety pin. On closer inspection, it listed the name of every ship in the fleet.

"I'll get to work." Wray sat down. "And, Miss Foster?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you for trusting me enough to let me help you. It's still amazing that we've managed to get along so well."

Foster smiled. "There are still some people who think that you're all Cylons, or worse. But if you hadn't told us about the Stargates, we would have starved. You saved us. And even if Earth is on the other side of the universe, we at least know it exists. So you've given us hope. And you've been honest with us."

Wray nodded. Honesty had been at the core of their relations with one another. And it wasn't as if _Destiny_ hadn't benefited from its alliance with the Colonials.

"I'd better get back to work," Foster said. Wray turned back to her desk and the personnel files she had been given.

* * *

DESTINY

"So, where are we?" Eli said as he arrived on the bridge.

"Well, we've actually backtracked," Volker informed him.

"What?" Eli peered at the display. The ship hadn't just gone backwards, it had _turned around_ while still in FTL.

"I thought _Destiny_ followed the path of Stargates?" James was rather confused.

"So did we," Park replied. By now, Helo and Zarek had joined them.

"It gets better," Brody said. "We've come out of FTL _orbiting_ the algae planet."

"Why orbiting? Anywhere within gate range should do," Helo pointed out.

"Maybe it's the ship's way of telling us that we ought to check this planet out again," Brody smirked.

"The _ship_ is telling you to check this planet out?" Zarek sounded incredulous. "Is there an artificial intelligence aboard?"

"Depends on your definition," Eli explained. "This wouldn't be the first time the ship has tried to help us. If it's not a true AI, it's a very smart autopilot."

"Alternatively, there could be something else in the system," Volker suggested. "We've got 48 hours before the next jump."

"Enough time to do a detailed survey of the Temple of Five," Park added.

"Are there any Cylons around?" Helo asked.

"Not that we can see," Brody answered.

"They could be on the far side of the planet," Eli was still staring at the holographic display. He broke off his gaze and took a look at the console. "We'll complete this orbit in ninety-four minutes. If there are no Cylons, then we'll send a team down to the planet."

"What if there are Cylons on the planet?" Zarek wondered aloud.

"We could use the kinos to scout ahead," Eli proposed. "Volker, I want you and Riley in the gateroom with kinos. James, get Greer's team into position."

Everyone murmured assent. Eli relaxed. He was really in command.


	6. Jupiter, Part 1

A/N: I apologize immensely for the delay. The thing is, a couple of months ago, my hard drive crashed with no warning, so I lost ALL my files. Including a half-written Chapter 6.

Now, I did have my outlines backed up to my brain, so it's not like I don't know what I was doing. The problem is that it's a lot harder to motivate yourself to rewrite something you've already written than it is to write something new. And school's taken up a lot of my time, and there's some other personal stuff that you don't need to know about, so I let this, and indeed most of my fanfic, just linger.

I do plan to finish this story, though. Not a week goes by that I don't get an e-mail telling me that someone has added this story to their story alerts. Hopefully, I will be able to devote some more time this summer to writing fanfiction.

Also, I encourage people to include speculation in their reviews. After all, how can I subvert reader expectations if I don't know what they are?

* * *

CYLON BASE STAR

"You IDIOT!" Six yelled at One, leaning forward over the console. "I knew you were obsessed with finishing off the humans, but could you at least have shown some restraint?"

"We couldn't let them escape," One replied.

"You're acting as if we'll never find them again," Eight rolled her eyes. "If we hadn't rushed in, we'd be in the same position we are now, only we wouldn't be down a Base Star."

"How were we supposed to know they had the support of an alien warship?" Five pointed out.

"When we found that portal on the planet," Two leaned over a console, "we should have taken time to study it, figure out what it meant, not rushed through to find their fleet. At the minimum, we should have sent a Raider to scout them, not jumped in with the Base Stars."

"This argument is pointless," Four cut in. "Attempting to assign blame will not help us find the humans, or determine the source of their aid. We must stand back, and analyze the situation rationally, so we may determine a course of action."

The others nodded in agreement.

"What do we know about the ship?" Two asked.

Eight brought up an image recorded during the battle. "Not much. It's of neither human nor Cylon design, and its technology is much further advanced. It's armed with some sort of energy weapon that rips through our armor plating, it's protected by an energy shield that our nukes can't even scratch, and it uses a different kind of FTL than we do." She showed a video clip of the ship leaving.

"Wonderful!" Six threw her hands in the air. "So it's invincible and unstoppable. What are we supposed to do next time we encounter it? Run away?"

"Not necessarily," Eight replied. "I double checked the combat footage. The ship did not undergo any sort of maneuvers during the battle. It did not attempt to evade our nukes or bring its primary weapon to bear on the other three Base Stars."

"Why?" One looked at Eight, confusion apparent on his face.

"Don't know. Maybe there's a problem with their sublight engines or navigation systems. The point is, so long as we avoid a narrow arc in front of the ship, and keep our Raiders clear of its turrets, we should be able to ignore it."

"There's also the possibility of negotiating with them," Five added. "After all, I doubt the humans have anything to offer them that we could not provide."

"We also need to learn more about them." Two took over the controls. "I think it's likely that whoever built that ship also built the portal devices and the temple."

"The symbols displayed on that control device match those in the temple," Eight confirmed. "Three is on the algae planet studying the temple, while Baltar is on the ice planet running experiments with the portal."

"Well, let's hope they find something," Six replied curtly.

* * *

ICE PLANET

Baltar was cold. The Raptor's heating systems were designed with the void of space in mind. However, the cold wind outside drew away heat even faster. And he could have sworn the Centurions deliberately picked the least appetizing food to salvage from New Caprica. He could kill for a scalebull steak right about now.

Despite all of this, he was happier than he'd been in years.

Gaius Baltar had been fascinated with the way things worked since early childhood. His love of discovery had naturally led him to a scientific career. But modern science was a lot less glamorous. Discovery came from poring over reams of data and carefully analyzing the results. He envied the early scientists, who could make fundamental discoveries with such simple experiments.

Now, he was getting to do science the fun way. He had no idea how this portal device worked. Actually, he had a fairly good idea by now, but there was still so much to discover.

He knew that he was amazingly lucky that he had figured out how to operate it so quickly. The control device was in another language – the same one used in the temple D'Anna was studying. Fortunately, it was also extremely user-friendly. Which actually made sense for an advanced civilization. Back on Caprica, there had been entire research firms trying to make things easier to use. Presumably, an advanced civilization would have made their devices incredibly intuitive. Of course, they might deliberately make them complicated, to prevent lesser peoples from using their technology, but surely they wouldn't do that for everything. What he had here was probably the retail version of a remote, like a handheld calculator.

He reviewed a list of facts he had learned. First, he was pretty sure that the portals worked by creating a stable wormhole between two portals. Colonial and Cylon FTL also used wormholes, though theirs were only open for a split-second. The travel time was 3.2 seconds, which matched that recorded by Colonial scientists. Also, it seemed that while energy (such as wireless signals) could pass both ways through a wormhole, matter could only go one way. He had dialed the warm planet and then ordered a Centurion on the other side to come through. The Centurion had not made it. Two more had been destroyed when he inadvertently discovered that the unstable vortex created when a wormhole opened would destroy anything that got caught in it.

Second, he knew that dialing another portal required entering seven symbols – six for the destination, and a seventh that identified the point-of-origin. There seemed to be a limit on how far a portal could take you. There were six addresses in range of the ice planet, one of which was the warm planet. He had sent Centurion scouts to the others, but refrained from establishing outposts, as they only had the one remote. Interestingly, all were on habitable planets.

Third, he had found that the devices deactivated if nothing was sent through them. A continuous radio signal could keep a wormhole open for up to 38 minutes. After that, the wormhole would close. His next experiment would be to see if he could keep a wormhole open for longer by sticking a piece of matter into it.

He entered the now-familiar combination of symbols. The portal rotated one way, then another, lighting up as each symbol reached the top. Only this time, upon reaching the seventh symbol, it simply turned off. A message came up in the alien language.

He wondered if he had mistakenly entered the wrong symbols. He reopened the list of addresses. Interestingly, there was now a seventh address. Only this one had nine symbols, without the point of origin. He tried dialing that address, but it failed as well. He dialed one of the other addresses. It worked.

So the problem was on their end. And what was with that seventh address?

He hit his wireless.

"Baltar to Base Star. We have a problem."

* * *

DESTINY, ORBITING THE ALGAE PLANET

Eli took a deep breath. He didn't know what lay on the other side of the open gate, but he had a pretty good idea that it included a bunch of Cylon soldiers.

He turned to Park. "They can't shoot at us through the gate, can they?"

"Matter can only pass one way through an open wormhole," she replied.

"OK. Volker?"

Given the likelihood of hostiles on the other side, Eli had opted to send two kinos. Volker held up his remote and nodded.

"Go."

The two kinos sailed forward and through the gate. Eli's attention was focused on his remote. As expected, he was greeted by a hail of bullets. Video-game instincts took over, and he weaved and dodged.

"Crap!" Volker shouted. "Lost the kino."

Eli didn't even look up. He flew the kino to behind a rise, giving it cover from the Cylons. Knowing that they would probably go after it, he kept going for some distance, before finally hiding it in some brush.

"Got away." He smiled.

"Did you get a good look at their defenses?" Helo asked.

"I was more trying to dodge the incoming _bullets_…" Eli replied dryly, before raising a finger "…but we can check the footage."

Pretty much everyone gathered around the console as Eli accessed the kino memories. Sure enough, the kinos had recorded several frames clearly showing the Cylons camped around the gate.

"Twelve Centurions," Athena observed. "Possibly more elsewhere."

"Some might have gone off to find the kino," Brody suggested.

"No, once they lost it, they'd fall back on their position. Centurions are tough, but they're inefficient scouts. Very slow and noisy."

"James, what's the protocol for attacking through a defended gate?" Eli asked.

"Uh…" James' eyes moved around as she remembered back to her training.

"You don't," Greer deadpanned.

"Sorry?" Eli turned to him.

"A Stargate is the mother of all choke points. You do not send troops through if they're going to get shot at the minute they come through. You either clear the gate area or find another way."

Damn. This is what Eli had worried about.

"I'll venture that simply spraying the wormhole with bullets won't do anything," he remarked.

"How about the Raptor?" Brody suggested. "We could use it to get to the surface."

"It's unarmed," Helo shook his head. "And there's not a whole lot of room to fit a strike force."

"If we had support from the gate," James added, "we could do it, but there would be casualties."

"That temple could hold the key to finding Earth," Zarek pointed out. "I'd say it's worth it."

Eli didn't like it. It made logical sense, but the idea of sending people he knew and worked with to their deaths just turned his stomach. He needed another way.

"Claymores," Greer said simply.

The military geek in Eli woke up. Aside from being cool, claymores could also to a lot of damage.

"What's a claymore?" Helo asked, confusion evident on his face.

James disappeared, returning shortly with a small metal box on a wire stand. The front side read "Point Towards Enemy".

"It's an antipersonnel mine," James explained. "You set it on the ground, point it at the enemy, and it sprays them with shrapnel. Sort of like a large shotgun blast."

"We use two of them, even a Cylon will be torn to pieces," Greer added.

"And a team could deploy by Raptor and pick off any survivors," James finished.

Eli liked that idea. A two-pronged assault, by gate and by Raptor.

"How many of these things do we have?" he asked.

"Four. Though making new ones wouldn't be that difficult."

"OK, then!" Eli looked around the room. "Helo, James, assemble a team and get down to the planet. Greer, get those claymores placed. Everyone else, uh, get out of the gate room."


End file.
